It's a bit of a kick in the wedding tackle for me. I try to support Bitcon Talk, and I give out merit points to encourage members that I think are contributing. But when I see this, I think - why am I wasting my time here? If this is a premium post, then I'm going to find it difficult to keep up with the trend.

If this is a premium post, then I'm going to find it difficult to keep up with the trend.

You don't need to keep up with the any trend.

This is a premium post because it created a term of enthusiasm for Bitcoin and all cryptocurrency that will live on forever. This post created something iconic for this "bitcoin project". And it also speaks to a mental state that every person that's owned bitcoin has gone through - the torment of watching the price fall that first time, the anguish of thinking "fuck I should have sold it!", the ups and downs of this roller coaster ride to the moon!

I don't have a problem with the post staying on the forum. I'm just a bit stressed that a drunken post that doesn't seem to contribute much gets twice as many merits as all my posts combined. It just makes me feel thst I have little value for the community here.

I don't have a problem with the post staying on the forum. I'm just a bit stressed that a drunken post that doesn't seem to contribute much gets twice as many merits as all my posts combined. It just makes me feel thst I have little value for the community here.

Doesn’t contribute much? It led to news articles, t-shirts, online groups, and is a mantra for the community.

AFAIK that's the original HODL post. You know, the one that introduced (and popularized) the now widely used semi-joke phrase HODL. IDK about you but that seems like a pretty good reason for it to have those 96 merits. There's quite a few classic posts that aren't literary masterpieces yet shaped the crypto community we're now part of.

I don't have a problem with the post staying on the forum. I'm just a bit stressed that a drunken post that doesn't seem to contribute much gets twice as many merits as all my posts combined. It just makes me feel thst I have little value for the community here.

What you're misunderstanding is that this post DID contribute much to this forum and community. It's a classic. It's a moniker. It's a phrase. It's an anthem. It's an acronym. It's an ideal. It's a belief. It's holding on for dear life!

I must agree with OP, it is frustrating to see post like that get so many Merits, no matter how legendary it is or whatever... its just sad. Those merits could go to some person who works really hard for his posts to be good and spotted, because now we need Merits for ranking up. As far as i can see this Merit system has been misused on so many levels, for some its just a joke... If this continues, and people gives their Merits for some posts that are not worth it, than why we have Merit system at all. Lets just place "Like" button like on facebook, so we can all Merit... oh sry Like "Legendary" posts... Its just sad.

I thought the idea of the merit system was to encourage good posting, and to reward posters who help reshape Bitcoin Talk. What's the point of giving merit to 4 year old posts. I see that Satoshi was last active on December 13, 2010, 04:45:41 PM, but he has 736 merit points.

I fully understand the contribution that Satoshi made in the past, but we need tools to build for the future.

I may have chosen a bad example because I didn't know the guy who first used HODL, but I did a quick scan of the merit list, and most of themseem to be foreign language threads or announcement and sig promo related.

Maybe I'm being stupid, and really I should just go with the flow and pick up a few hundred dollars worth of Bitcoin by making general and lifestyle posts.

I can certainly understand your frustration with this new system, and I suppose some people might say the post is worthy of the Merits. However, if only a handful of posts ever receive recognition, a whole lot of people will be left "un-ranked" fora very long time. Personally, I may not have the greatest posts, but I try my best to help within this "community", and maybe left behind with this new system. The kicker for me is, I have no interest in signature campaigns, and I'm here to learn/help and my signature area is dedicated to our "community", but I will see very little Merit for my good deeds. For now, Iwill come to terms with it, and still be happy when I've made a small difference helping others. A Thank You is all I need.

I can certainly understand your frustration with this new system, and I suppose some people might say the post is worthy of the Merits. However, if only a handful of posts ever receive recognition, a whole lot of people will be left "un-ranked" fora very long time. Personally, I may not have the greatest posts, but I try my best to help within this "community", and maybe left behind with this new system. The kicker for me is, I have no interest in signature campaigns, and I'm here to learn/help and my signature area is dedicated to our "community", but I will see very little Merit for my good deeds. For now, Iwill come to terms with it, and still be happy when I've made a small difference helping others. A Thank You is all I need.

Thanks - I gave you two merits, and the cat jumped on the mouse and gave you another.

I changed the avatar to a bounty chest because I think I'm going to change my approach a bit. The merit system has brought home to me that this board is now an employment exchange, with a bit of Bitcoin chat on the side. I think I'm going to become a bounty hunter here, as that seems to be the fun occupation. I had a bit of luck as well. I managed to pick up the domain name CryptoBounty.com, so I can use that as a backup and a reference site.

The first thing I must do though is to get over the idea that merit points are some sort of indication of post quality.